A daisy chain communication configuration is a chain of devices, where each device in the chain receives signals from a preceding device in the chain and transmits signals to a following device in the chain. Thus, a device of rank I in the chain only communicates signals directly with devices of ranks I−1 and I+1 in the chain, and cannot communicate signals directly with devices of ranks I−2, I+2, etc.
An environment control system comprises a plurality of devices (such as environment controllers, sensors and controlled appliances) communicating with each other for exchanging environmental data. The environmental data are transmitted from a source device to a destination device over a communication link via a message comprising the environment data and an identifier (e.g. an address) of the destination device. When the destination device receives the message, it determines that it is the recipient of the message based on the identifier (e.g. the address) in the message.
Since an environment control system comprises a plurality of heterogeneous devices (which may need to be replaced or upgraded), determining and configuring an address for each specific device, and sharing the address with other devices which need to communicate with this specific device is usually a complicated process.
The present disclosure provides a new method of configuring a plurality of devices, more specifically of determining and configuring an address for each of the devices, making use of a daisy chain communication configuration for this purpose.